Official Tennessee Thread

OK, enough of the policical stuff.....



I let the cable guy try sitting in my truck to see if he liked it. He did and now will be trying to talk his wife in to it.

 

Piss him off.........let him drive it.......after he buys a new one

 

Ha! I told him about the stock tune and suggested that if/when he gets a taco to get it tuned.

 

See me for all your middle TN needs

 

Well, thought I had my wife set on where we were living after I retire from the AF in a year... I was wrong. TN is at the top of her list for multiple reasons despite never being there. Pros? Cons? Right areas? How are schools, or should we stay in private schools if we move there? Pay above average for professionals? She's a nurse and I'm, well... We shall see what I'm picked up for after 20+ years in.

Nashville area is her thought. Certain areas to look at, to avoid?

 

Very strange that she would pick TN as a Nurse. We have some of the lowest nurse pay in the country. My friend as a nurse in TN would have made around $50k. He moved to Vancouver, WA where he makes around $110k doing the same job. Tell your wife to do more research on this. There are many great reasons to move here but high paying wages wouldn't be one. Especially compared to where you live now.

 

My work brought me to Middle TN over 30 years ago, and I absolutely love it here. I don't know what type of living you are looking for. This area has been one of the fastest growing in the nation for about 20 years. Nashville/Davidson County is very diverse with all social/economic groups, mostly leaning left politically. If your style is with the "rich folks", try Brentwood or Williamson County to the South. Many of today's music stars and celebrities live there. If you are politically right and looking for suburban or rural America, look at Sumner or Robertson County to the North, Wilson County to the East. Even Sumner County has different parts. Hendersonville, where the old music stars like Johnny Cash and Conway Twitty lived is trying to become like Brentwood. I live just North of there. Gallatin and White House have turned into commuters working in Nashville. Sumner County is home to many that work in the music industry ( songwriters, everyday musicians, and bus drivers). When Covid hit, you should have seen all the tour buses that were parked. If you want to go back in time to small town life, take a look at Hartsville/Trousdale County. I work in several of the schools there and am considering retiring there. Property value is thru the roof. Especially if it has easier commute to Nashville or if its on a lake.
I can personally speak about schools in Sumner and Trousdale County. Public and private in both are great.

 

For her, if it was about pay only we would stay in Cali, or back to Washington. But she doesn't see us here long term, and she'd like to be a bit closer to her family in Kansas, without being in Kansas.

Cost of living is a big factor though. No income tax. Lower property taxes. Sales tax sucks, but whatever. Both of us lean Centrist politically, so both sides typically hate us equally in that area. I personally would stay here, but that's only because my kids love their school, and we've made good friends here. But "I've been the one to dictate where we lived for 10 years," so...

 

Overall, you will find your money will go much further here. Come on over, we welcome everyone.

 

My wife is a nurse, and we have been here 16 years after I retired from the Navy. Cost of living compared to the Norfolk/Va Beach area is better here, and housing is much better here in east TN. Nursing pay is very low. My wife has finished her Masters in Nursing Education and is one semester from finishing her Doctorate. She is looking at about 56K this year with a 7% raise coming at the end of the year. I think the major benefit we have, despite her pay rate, is a free college education benefit for my youngest boy. Once that is done, I suspect she will start looking for individual opportunities, outside the traditional classroom professor role.

 

West TN or Arkansas would be closer to Kansas.

TN is a wide state. Memphis to Nashville is 3-4 hours depending conditions and how much you want to tempt state troopers along I-40. Knoxville is a few hours more from Nashville.
Traffic all around Nashville is always horrid.
Lots of medical related in Memphis area but not certain how it compares to Nashville in that regard.

Any preference to terrain/outdoors?

East TN is nice with blue ridge mtns.
North central or NW Arkansas is nice with Ozark mans.
West TN is on a plateau along the Mississippi river. Fairly flat. Lots of swampy areas.

West and middle TN has a lot of water ways that can flood quick so check maps if you look there.

I think most of TN is politically center to right and will leave you alone but there are pockets of commies sprinkled about.

 

Lived in TN my whole life and never once seen any “commies.” lol

I do agree with the NW AR suggestion though. If you want to be close to Kansas, but not in Kansas, check that area for sure. I really like that area. Lots of outdoor stuff to do and towns that are small, but not too small.

 

Where in No Call are you? I moved here ( East TN) from Auburn a few years ago. Love it here. Wages are definitely lower here but cost of living is too. Its a "whole package" decision as far as finances. Quality of life is great. Not controlled by the left. Some areas are getting over saturated with transplants like me. My 2 cents is to do you research on the schools, crime, housing etc. TN is awesome.

 

Outside the Sac area. Stationed at Travis right now. I know the 2 main cities we are looking at are the Nashville area and Knoxville. I know its more of a drive, but I am OK with that... too close they may come MORE often. Believe me, I am doing research. It isn't easy up and moving again, especially to a place you have no knowledge of, no friends in, and no support system nearby. Worse than a PCS if you ask me.

The no income tax is a plus. My retirement + disability should go a long way and mitigate the need for me to find that amazing paying job right off. Wife is a nurse, so I am assuming 50-70k depending on location. Shes doing 95k right now in Cali, and we are getting by fine. Less house price, no taxes, I imagine we should make it just fine. Just a lot to take in.

 

Yup. We knew no one out here either. But it's really easy to meet people. A very friendly culture. We visited a few times before we bought and talked to a real estate person to get the skinny on the areas to stay clear of. In fact, you might want to contact one and have them send you mls listings. We were also able to buy our house outright after selling the house in CA. Prices are definitely going up though. Insurance rates are about the same, as is food (food is taxed). Energy and gas are cheaper, and you know the income/ property tax situation. Retirement is awesome in East TN.
But the biggest thing is I read that bacon may be difficult to come by in CA because of the 2018 animal proposition. That is just unacceptable.

 

lots of nursing job opportunities in central Arkansas (and potentially NW AR). Military friendly. not too bad taxes (if outside Pulaski county [Little Rock]). LR is a small city compared to other states'.

 

I'm not looking forward to it. I've been loading my freezer with pork butt the last few months in preparation. Unfortunately we just bought our house a year ago. It has gone up 120k, but that's still a drop in the bucket for a house anywhere except Idaho/Montana/Wyoming and maybe Kansas. But it's a decent down. I'll be over 10% disability too (closer to 80-90%) so I can still avoid the VA funding this next one.

Knoxville is up on our list. Depends on if I can find a job in a reasonable amount of time and get into one of the schools we'll be looking at (private schools, likely).

 

Happy Birthday Levi, I hope it's a stupendous day!!

 

happy birthday levi @Robertocritser